1 The beauty of the mountain was gone in a matter of a few minutes. The rivers were now filled with ash, and the sky turned black. Mount St. Helens just blew its top. It was 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980.2 Most of the people that lived on the mountain were safe because they had left their homes. The mountain, which is also an active volcano, had begun to shake with small earthquakes a couple of months earlier, so the people knew that they were in danger of the volcano erupting. The dome of lava started to grow from the inside and created a bulge. The bulge was created when the hot gases underneath built a lot of pressure under the rock.3 Some people did not think that the mountain would really erupt, so they tried to stay in their homes. You see, this mountain had not erupted in over 100 years. These people may have had a little too much faith in their mountain. Unfortunately, 57 people died that day.